


Step By Step, We Walk On

by Thistlerose



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Lord of the Rings (Movies)
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Future Fic, Gen, POV Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 23:50:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6260824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thistlerose/pseuds/Thistlerose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tauriel never returned to the Woodland Realm after the Battle of Five Armies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Step By Step, We Walk On

**Author's Note:**

  * For [angel_vixen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_vixen/gifts).



Tauriel never returned to the Woodland Realm after the Battle of Five Armies. She might have, if she had so chosen. Thranduil never formally rescinded his banishment of her, but at their last parting he gave her a look, his eyes the color of the mist that sometimes lingers in a forest long after the sun has risen, and he held out his hand to her, an extraordinary thing for any king, never mind this one.

But though her heart longed for the shade of the trees, the secretive murmuring of the brooks and streams, she stayed where she was, unmoving, and after what felt like an Age, Thranduil lowered his hand and turned away.

She never saw him again.

She never saw any of her people again, except for Legolas, who became a wanderer like her. They met a few times in the decades between wars. Never for long, and only to share information. He spoke to her of the simmering rage that he sensed when he looked to the east on some mornings, and of the man that he hoped would rise to stand against it, the Ranger his father had sent him in search of. 

"You didn't always have such faith in Men," Tauriel observed.

Legolas looked away and didn't reply. In fairness, she hadn't really expected him to.

For her part, Tauriel talked of the forgetfulness that she sensed when she walked among Men. "They don't remember their history," she said. "Not even ancient history, but things that happened within _their_ living memory. They forget what happened in Dale. They forget that one brave man brought down the dragon while most of them cowered in fear, and that there was once an alliance between them and the Elves. They elect leaders like the old Master of Laketown and Alfrid."

"Are you surprised?" asked Legolas, and she couldn't tell if he meant to sound derisive, or if he was simply weary as she was.

"Little surprises me anymore," replied Tauriel, looking away.

 

In a way, she lied to Legolas. While she did find the world of Men disheartening, and there were times - mostly at the turning of the seasons, when she could _feel_ the years hurrying by - when she missed the Woodland Realm, still she found reason to hope. She returned to Laketown not long after the Battle of Five Armies and found Bard's daughters, Sigrid and Tilda, just as she remembered them: a little bit in awe of her, but bright and eager to learn. So, with their father's permission, she took them with her when she went out into the countryside, and she began to teach them what she knew of the healing arts.

She taught them how to identify different plants, what their uses were, and their lore. She watched, her chin cupped in her hand, as they dutifully sketched petals, seeds, and roots on the paper she provided, and listened with an attentive ear as they repeated the songs she taught them, of alfirin and mallos, lavaralda, and niphredil. 

When she was satisfied, she brought them back to Laketown and put them to work.

Tauriel took pride in her actions. Tilda and Sigrid would make fine healers, she knew. More importantly, perhaps, they would instruct others as she had instructed them. Down through the Ages her knowledge would travel and if, with the passage of time, the memory of where that knowledge came from dimmed … _that_ she could live with. She didn't hope to be remembered.

 

She didn't know why she never spoke of this to Legolas. Perhaps she thought he wouldn't understand. Perhaps, having lost so much - her home, her love - she wanted to keep her spark of joy secret and therefore safe. And perhaps there was a part of her that hungered for obscurity, that was pleased with the idea of changing a few lives, and then slipping from history.

She'd never wanted glory, after all. Only an honorable purpose.

She'd found it, she thought. No one needed to know. _She_ knew, and that was enough.


End file.
